Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate participant involvement in community wind bands through the lens of organizational theory to inform the music education profession about community wind bands as an “expressive” voluntary association with potential for lifelong participation. Twenty-eight informants were drawn from three community wind bands in the United States and four community wind bands in Singapore. Overall, responses between U.S. and Singapore informants shared many commonalities. Informants from both countries desired musical opportunities that aligned with their interests (incentives and commitment), viewed their participation as defined largely by the ensemble-conductor relationship (formal structures), and preferred rehearsing and performing under the direction of a competent and respectful conductor (leadership and authority). The diversity of bands from which informants were drawn points to the importance of an environment that supports a range of interests for lifelong participation.

Keywords

lifelong participation community bands organizational theory voluntary associations cross-cultural research

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Allsup

Benedict

(2008). The problems of band: An inquiry into the future of instrumental music education. Philosophy of Music Education Review, 16(2), 156–173.

Billaud

(2013). Community band participation seen through the lens of Giddens’ structuration theory: How structural properties enable or dissuade participation. DMA dissertation, Boston University. Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Full Text database.

Cameron

John

. 1965. Our tropical possessions in India. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press.

Chiodo

(1997). The development of lifelong commitment: A qualitative study of adult instrumental music participation (adult learners). Doctoral dissertation, State University of New York at Buffalo. Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Full Text database.

Dairianathan

(2006). The wind ensemble in Singapore: Presence and practice. World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles Journal, 13, 31–50.

Elpus

(2015). Music teacher licensure candidates in the United States: A demographic profile and analysis of licensure examination scores. Journal of Research in Music Education, 63(3), 314–335. doi:10.1177/0022429415602470

Elpus

Abril

C. R.

(2011). High school music ensemble students in the United States: A demographic profile. Journal of Research in Music Education, 59, 128–145. doi:10.1177/0022429411405207

Glanville

J. L.

(2004). Voluntary associations and social network structure: Why organizational location and type are important. Sociological Forum, 19(3), 465–491.

Goldman

R. F.

(1961). The wind band, its literature and technique. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

10.

Hansen

R. K.

(2005). The American wind band: A cultural history. Chicago, IL: GIA Publications.

11.

Harris

(1998). A special case of voluntary associations? Towards a theory of congregational organization. The British Journal of Sociology, 49, 602–618.

12.

Hazen

M. H.

Hazen

R. M.

(1987). The music men: An illustrated history of brass bands in America, 1800–1920. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.

13.

Heintzelman

T. D.

(1988). Adult concert band participation in the United States. DME dissertation, Indiana University. Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Full Text database.

14.

Knoke

Prensky

(1984). What relevance do organization theories have for voluntary associations? Social Science Quarterly, 65(1), 3–20.

15.

Kratus

(2007). Music education at the tipping point. Music Educators Journal, 94(2), 42–48. doi:10.1177/002743210709400209

16.

Leonhard

House

R. W.

(1959). Foundations and principles of music education. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

17.

Martin

P. J.

(1983). A status study of community bands in the United States. Doctoral dissertation, Northwestern University. Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Full Text database.

18.

Miksza

Tan

Dye

(2016). Achievement motivation for band: A cross-cultural examination of the 2 × 2 achievement goal motivation framework. Psychology of Music, 44, 1372–1388.

19.

Patton

M. Q.

(2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

20.

Pitts

(2016). “The violin in the attic”: Investigating the long-term value of lapsed musical participation. In Mantie

Smith

G. D.

(Eds.), The Oxford handbook of music making and leisure (pp. 171–186). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

21.

Raya

(2017). A survey of the current financial trends in American adult community bands. DMA dissertation, Arizona State University. Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Full Text database.

22.

Rhoden

(2008). A history of the Tara Winds Community Band, Jonesboro, Georgia, 1988–2008. DMA dissertation, University of Southern Mississippi. Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Full Text database.

23.

Rohwer

(2016). Research on community bands: Past, present, and future. Contributions to Music Education, 41, 13–28.

24.

Saldaña

(2009). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications.

25.

Singapore Department of Statistics. (2017). Population trends 2017. Retrieved from http://www.singstat.gov.sg/docs/default-source/default-document-library/publications/publications_and_papers/population_and_population_structure/population2017.pdf

26.

Spencer

(1996). An attitude assessment of amateur musicians in community bands. Doctoral dissertation, University of North Texas. Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Full Text database.

27.

Tan

(2012). Towards a transcultural philosophy of instrumental music education. Doctoral dissertation, Indiana University Bloomington. Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Full Text database.

28.

Tan

(2014). Towards a transcultural theory of democracy for instrumental music education. Philosophy of Music Education Review, 22(1), 61–77.

29.

Tan

Cain

(2018). The community band experience in Singapore through two lenses: The local and the expatriate. In Bartleet

Cain

Tolmie

Power

Shiobara

(Eds.), Community music in Oceania. Many voices, one horizon (pp. 221–259). Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.

30.

Tan

Miksza

(2018). A cross-cultural examination of university students’ motivation toward band and academics in Singapore and the United States. Journal of Research in Music Education, 65, 416–438.

31.

Thaller

G. P.

(1999). The community contributions, recruitment, and retention practices of select adult community bands in eastern Massachusetts. DME dissertation, University of Cincinnati. Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Full Text database.

32.

Vosburgh

W. W.

(1988). Voluntary associations, the homeless and hard-to serve populations: Perspectives from organizational theory. Journal of Voluntary Action Research, 17(1), 10–23.

33.

Wilhjelm

C. C.

Jr. (1998). A case study of the Ridgewood Concert Band: A New Jersey community band dedicated to lifelong learning. EdD dissertation, Columbia University Teachers College. Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Full Text database.

34.

Williams

D. A.

(2011). The elephant in the room. Music Educators Journal, 98(1), 51–57. doi:10.1177/0027432111415538

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.08 MB